my heart can't take this damage
by BiPride76
Summary: She sniffled and Five pulled her into his room before his dad or any of his other siblings could see. He shut the door behind them and turned to her. "He said it again." Vanya whispered sadly and Five grit his teeth. or, the one where Reginald Hargreeves is a terrible father, Vanya reads Crime and Punishment and there's a blanket fort.


Five wasn't good at providing comfort.

Ask him for facts, numbers, equations any day of the week and he'd be golden. But there wasn't an equation on how to make a sister stop crying.

So when Vanya knocked on his door with tears in her eyes, Five might have freaked out a little bit.

"Van, what-what's wrong?"

She sniffled and Five pulled her into his room before his dad or any of his other siblings could see. He shut the door behind them and turned to her.

"He said it again." Vanya whispered sadly and Five grit his teeth.

Their father had been leaving Vanya out of things for as long as Five could remember, but recently he's become cruel about it. Before, he would allow her to at least time their runs or help grab supplies but now he wouldn't even let her do that. He'd never pass up the chance to reminded Vanya that she was ordinary, or too weak to participate in their training.

Five understood why she wasn't allowed to go on missions but he believed that she should at least be allowed to train with them. Vanya should at least know basic self defense just in case, but whenever Five brought it up, his father always shot him down.

Five paused before he thought of something.

"Hold on, I'll be right back."

Vanya watched with watery eyes as he blinked out of sight in a flash of blue. She sat down on his bed and looked around for something to distract her from the overwhelming feelings of despair and uselessness that have been plaguing her lately.

She picked up the book that Five was in the middle of reading before she interrupted him. She turned it over and started reading.

Five came back a little while later with Ben trailing behind him. Ben's arms were full of blankets and pillows.

"Oof," Ben exclaimed as he dropped all the bedding onto the floor in front of Vanya. "Why couldn't you carry it Five? You are the one who can teleport."

Five rolled his eyes. "Because I have to go get the chairs. I'll be right back."

He popped away again and Ben sat down next to Vanya on the bed. "Crime and Punishment? That doesn't seem like your type of book."

Vanya shrugged, turning the page. "It's not that bad. Although I don't know what some of the words mean."

Ben laughed. "Five could probably tell you."

There was a silence before Ben spoke up again. "I heard that dad was being...tough today."

Vanya lowered the book and nodded. Ben leaned forward to show that he was listening and she sighed.

"He just-he doesn't want me to be apart. I get it. I really do, I don't have powers and I'm not important like you guys but-"

"Let me stop you right there." Ben said, holding up a hand. "Just because you don't have powers doesnt mean you aren't important Vanya."

"Doesn't it though?" She asked softly. "What use am I if I can't help?"

Ben watched his sister sadly. He felt absolutely helpless.

How can you convince someone they matter if the most important person in their life keeps telling them otherwise?

Ben reached forward and gently took her hand. She allowed him to tug her into a light hug, the book in her lap falling to the floor with a soft thud. There was a pause before she hugged him back, her arms tightening around her brother.

"You are just as important as the rest of us Vanya, with or without powers." Ben promised. "Just because dad doesn't see it, doesn't mean it isn't true."

Vanya pulled away after a moment, scrubbing at her flushed face quickly. Ben pretended not to notice her tears and instead resolved to start setting up the pillows.

Five popped back into the room just then and Ben wondered if along with teleporting and time travel, Five also could tell when ever any emotionally charged moment was over because his timing was perfect.

He set up the chairs and blankets and in no time there was a fully functional blanket fort in Five's room. Ben smiled, putting down a few more pillows while Five picked up his book off the floor.

"Crime and Punishment, huh?" He hummed. "Interesting."

Vanya shrugged sheepishly. "A little bit."

Five smiled softly, a rare occurrence, and nodded. "Well, there just might be hope for you yet."

"Are you guys coming under here or are you just gonna talk all night?" Ben asked from his place under the blankets.

Vanya giggled and she moved to join Ben but she paused when she realized that Five wasn't following her.

"Come on Five."

Five faltered for a half a second before he rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He sighed but Vanya wasn't fooled, she saw the way his lips quirked upwards into a slight smile.

She settled into the cozy blanket fort, curling against Ben, who automatically threaded a hand through her hair and gently pressing her legs against Five's who started reading the Crime and Punishment book aloud to them in a soft voice.

And when Ben and Vanya's breathing deepened, Five stopped reading and gently placed a blanket over them.

Maybe he was better at comfort than he thought.


End file.
